By Tom Kenning Aug 23, 2016 12:11 PM BST

A Brazilian House Committee has approved a bill allowing utilities in the Northeast of the country to procure an extra 200MW of solar PV each year for five years.

The National Integration Commission, Regional Development and the Amazon House of Representatives approved the bill 612/15, which requests utilities to acquire this additional capacity through an auction process, solar .

Projects will have a term of 20 years from date of commissioning. The added 200MW per year will be enough to power 40,000 homes, solar mounting system.

Committee member Caca Leon, said: "Solar energy is one of the solutions to the Brazilian energy crisis."